Hmmm. I want to share my thoughts about the new Unearthed Arcana, but first a word: I am so entirely bored by people who feel the need to say they whether they think Psionics belongs in D&D that I might just block you if you tell me.
Didn't ask, don't care.
Didn't ask, don't care.
This installment is focused on psionics, using a different approach than the previous iterations in the Mystic class: it uses sub-classes of existing classes, and represents most psionics as just spells.
media.wizards.com/2019/dnd/downl…
media.wizards.com/2019/dnd/downl…
I have been thinking they would probably wind up here eventually, because since launch the default approach to any kind of psi power a creature might have was to give the creature spells and say "but they're psionics".
But I'm disappointed that for the main psychic character class, they went with a Wizard subclass. I guess because Wizards are the ones who use Int for spellcasting. Can't say their mechanics (study a book, learn new spells by copying them down) particularly fits.
Sorcerers, who have a very small number of spells as innate mutant power type abilities and more direct control over how they cast them, seem like a better thematic match in every other way.
Frankly, if they were going to land on "let's just use the default spell system" as a solution, I would have rather they issued a revised Mystic with its own mechanics and a custom spell list instead of suggesting players use the Wizard spell list and focus on "thematic" spells.
Oh, you're right, they did in fact do that. I guess that was an early indicator.
And that would have been one of the few classes this would work for, as Sorcerers choose a subclass at level 1.
I don't have strong feelings yet about either? I kind of like the Soul Knife. The Fighter one feels more blah.
I don't have strong feelings yet about either? I kind of like the Soul Knife. The Fighter one feels more blah.
Agreed.
I *do* like feats to make any character telepathic or telekinetic. I'm not a fan of representing low-grade telekinesis with "mage hand but invisible, lol". I understand not reinventing the wheel but I feel like it could be its own thing.
I suspect that's a big part of why they've been defaulting to "this creature casts spells, but they're psionic" all along and now have given up and gone all in on that.
I don't know. I feel like psionics *should* be its own thing. It can live in the magic system if that's easier and even share spells like Detect Thoughts and Telekinesis, and rely on class features to make it different the way Sorcery and Wizardry differ...
...but that's part and parcel of why I feel strongly the Wizard class shouldn't be carrying the weight of the man/generic psionicist character. Wizardry is too much its own thing.
If there's a Mystic or Psion class that has its own mechanics and spell list, I don't care if there's a Mentalism Wizard or whatever that focuses on a psionic-tailored subset of spells. At that point you don't have to try so hard to make the Mentalist psi-flavored...
...that you wind up giving it a limited use power up sequence where it can "cast spells psionically" (ignoring spell components) for 10 minutes at a time, because you've got a class that just does tha.
See, that's one of the tests that fails for me. I feel like you can make a better Jedi playing a melee-focused Bard. They get some attack and defense buffs that could be anything, non-combat TK, and a Force shove?
Anyway. I will certainly be participating in the survey.
They managed to thread this needle pretty well with the Warlock.
That's definitely one way the Mystic was a superior experiment.
